Castillo signs initial loan deal

MEXICO CITY, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Mexican forward Nery Castillo is to go on loan to English Premier League side Manchester City after a failed attempt to adapt at Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk, his agent said.

Castillo, who shone in this year's Copa America with a brilliant goal against Brazil, moved from Greek club Olympiakos Piraeus to Shakhtar in July for a reported 20 million euros ($28.9 million).

He failed to impress at Shakhtar, however, and played only a handful of games, starting mostly on the bench and occasionally being left out of the squad.

Manchester City, sixth in the English top flight and coached by former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson, had expressed interest in Castillo when he made it known he wanted to leave Olympiakos.

"There has been an agreement with Manchester City so that Nery can be with the club for one year on loan and so he can prove himself, so he can play active football," his agent, Jose Luis Padilla, told Mexican television.

"Nery just wanted to play and that was not happening at Shakhtar," Padilla said. "Nery is now in England to iron out in the next few hours the final details of his contract."

Padilla said Manchester City would have an option to buy Castillo at the end of the loan period.

-reuters.

So, in keeping with the tradition of transfers since Sven has been at the club, another player arrives without a great deal of speculation in the press until the signing is all but confirmed.

It makes you wonder quite what sports desks are sourcing for transfer speculation given the names that continue to be linked with us, yet nothing really surfaced regarding the signing of Castillo.

I don't know too much about him, but Sven's judgement thus far has been commendable so it could well be another talented addition to the squad. Given his lack of plaing time this season though, it may well take several weeks to get him acclimatised to the demands and rigours of the Premier League.

More on Castillo can be found at his Wikipedia page, impressively updated already to show him as a City player.